Dispensers that utilize a diluent to erode a portion of a solid product such as an all purpose cleaning agent, a detergent, a sanitizer, a rinse aid, or any other suitable chemical from which it is desired to make a use solution are well known. The product being dispensed is typically a solid product and can take the form of either a solid block of chemicals, pellets, a cast product, or an extruded product. One example of such a dispenser is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,661 by Copeland et al. This patent discloses a solid block chemical dispenser for cleaning systems. The dispenser includes a spray nozzle for directing a dissolving spray onto a surface of a solid block of a cleaning composition. The nozzle sprays on the exposed surface of the solid block, dissolving a portion of the block and forming a use solution. This is just one example of a dispenser that uses a diluent and further just one example of the type of product that may be dispensed. It is recognized that there are many different dispensers which utilize diluents to erode and dispense a portion of a product, which may also have any number of forms.
When dispensing a use solution, it is often important to maintain a certain concentration of the use solution. Prior art dispensers have done this by controlling the amount of water being sprayed on the solid product and the amount of water added to the use solution and have typically accomplished this used electronics to control the water inlet valves. Still further, when the additional diluent is added to the use solution, in prior art dispensers, there is often a problem of foaming within the dispenser, which can interfere with the spray onto the solid product and affect the concentration of the use solution.
The present invention addresses the problems associated with the prior art dispensers.